Feature Writing Basics
-
Upload
janet-tibaldo -
Category
Education
-
view
15.008 -
download
3
Transcript of Feature Writing Basics
FEATURE WRITING
HARD NEWS VS. SOFT NEWS
Standard fare of most newspapers
Objective Direct Factual
Usually associated with human interest
Subjective Featurized
Hard News Soft News
HARD NEWS VS. SOFT NEWSHard News
“Hard news is interesting to human beings.”
-Frank Luther Mott
“Hard news concerns important matters.”
-Gaye Tuchman
Soft News“Soft news is interesting because it deals with the life of human beings.”
-Frank Luther Mott
“Soft news concerns interesting matters.”
-Gaye Tuchman
STORY STRUCTUREHard News
lead
Details are inChronological
Order
Soft News
Logical Order
Narrative Order
Most important
Least important
FEATURE WRITING
Think of the Feature Story as a news story written like a piece of short fiction
FEATURE WRITING
You must combine the rigors of factual reporting with the creative freedom of short-story writing
FEATURE WRITING
Readers would have to read the whole story to understand it
FEATURE WRITING Functions to:
humanize add color educate entertain illuminate
FEATURE WRITING
Written to hook the reader and draw him/her into the story
May or may not be tied to a current event
Often longer than a traditional news story
May present an opinionated view
FEATURE WRITING Functions to humanize, to add color,
to educate, to entertain, to illuminate
Written to hook the reader and draw him/her into the story
May or may not be tied to a current event
Often longer than a traditional news story
May present an opinionated view
FEATURE STORY Also called Feature Article, or simply
Feature
A piece of journalistic writing that covers a selected in-depth issue
Emphasizes on facts of human interest
Its job is to find a fresh angle
Makes the reader think and care
TYPES OF FEATURES Personality Profiles
> detailed article on well-known personality Human Interest Stories
> appeals to the emotion, arouses sympathetic interest
Trend Stories> e.g. food/restaurants, jobs, music, fashion, etc.
Analysis Stories> digs deep into the facts and details of a story
TYPES OF FEATURES Interview article Practical guidance (how-to) Seasonal or holiday feature Entertainment article Travelogue Personality sketch Interpretative feature
CHOOSING THE THEME Has the story been done before?
Is the story of interest to the reader?
Does the story have a holding power?
What makes the story worthy to be reported?
The theme answers the question, “so what?”
THE SUBSTANCE OF THE FEATURE Facts
Quotes
Description
Anecdotes
Opinions
Analysis
Pay off/conclusion
SAMPLE FEATURE TOPICS Foreign exchange students Unusual hobbies Dirtiest jobs Fashion trends Favorite movies Favorite celebrities Teacher features Tattoos Bizarre Foods
FEATURE STORY STRUCTURE Beginning = lead/lede
> start with a premise or a theme Middle = body/story development
> present information and opinions that back your point
End = conclusion> bring the reader to a close
FEATURE WRITING : THE LEAD The most important part
The first paragraph, but may include the second or even the third paragraph
Entices your readers, hooks them in
Uses drama, emotion, quotations, questions, and/or descriptions
Sets the tone
FEATURE WRITING : THE LEAD ATTENTION-GETTING DEVICES
Ask a question or questions Make an unusual statement Describe a scene Present a conversation Tell a brief story Present surprising or alarming statistic Refer to an event , either historical or current
FEATURE WRITING : THE LEAD ATTENTION-GETTING DEVICES
Show a controversy or contradiction Use a quotation, adage, or proverb State an unusual opinion Riddle Dialogue Onomatopeia
LEAD SAMPLE (PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING EXAMPLE BY ANDREA ELLIOTT OF THE NEW YORK TIMES)
The young Egyptian professional could pass for any New York bachelor.
Dressed in a crisp polo shirt and swathed in cologne, he races his Nissan Maxima through the rain-slicked streets of Manhattan, late for a date with a tall brunette. At red lights, he fusses with his hair.
What sets the bachelor apart from other young men on the make is the chaperon sitting next to him -- a tall, bearded man in a white robe and stiff embroidered hat.
LEAD SAMPLE (EDWARD WONG OF THE NEW YORK TIMES' BEIJING BUREAU)
The first sign of trouble was powder in the baby’s urine. Then there was blood. By the time the parents took their son to the hospital, he had no urine at all.
Kidney stones were the problem, doctors told the parents. The baby died on May 1 in the hospital, just two weeks after the first symptoms appeared. His name was Yi Kaixuan. He was 6 months old.
The parents filed a lawsuit on Monday in the arid northwest province of Gansu, where the family lives, asking for compensation from Sanlu Group, the maker of the powdered baby formula that Kaixuan had been drinking. It seemed like a clear-cut liability case; since last month, Sanlu has been at the center of China’s biggest contaminated food crisis in years. But as in two other courts dealing with related lawsuits, judges have so far declined to hear the case.
TYPES OF LEADS TO AVOID Trite dictionary lead
> “According to Webster’s Dictionary …”
Dumb declarative lead> “It’s official…”
Mystery “it” lead> “It’s round, it’s red, its juicy . . .yes, it’s a tomato!
TYPES OF LEADS TO AVOID Weird linkage or atypical lead
> "What did Boris Karloff, Jane Fonda and Richard Nixon have in
common? Ring around the collar." Who cares?
> "Jenny Jones looks like a typical college student, but she's really...a world-class wrestler …supermodel…or whatever!”
TYPES OF LEADS TO AVOID The uninformative question lead
> Avoid asking questions that might provoke your readers to respond, “Who cares?”
> Turn questions into short, informativestatements instead
COMPARE (THE LEADS)Twenty-one teachers from across Northern Luzon gathered at the University of Baguio February 24-February 28 to learn techniques used to teach writing.
Teacher John dela Cruz cried as he composed a poem about his grandmother at the keyboard of a Macintosh computer in the basement of the University of Baguio Liberal Arts building recently.
FEATURE WRITING :THE BODY The “guts” of the story
Longest part . . . so you need to vary the pace and keep it fresh by using:
> quotes and anecdotes> description and details> specific examples
FEATURE WRITING :THE BODY IMPORTANT COMPONENTS INCLUDE
Background Information> brings the reader up to date
The “Thread” of the story> connects the introduction, body and
conclusion Dialogue
> gives strong mental images; keeps them attached
Voice > the signature or personal style of the writer
FEATURE WRITING : CONCLUSION While the lead draws the reader in, the
conclusion should be written to help the reader remember the story
Will wrap up the story and come back to the lead, often with a quotation or a surprising climax
Unlike hard news stories, features need endings
FEATURE WRITING : CONCLUSION THE END CAN BE
A comment
A concluding quote
A question
A summary of the article
STEPS TO DEVELOP A FEATURE STORY Prewriting
Writing
Revising
Proofreading
STEPS: PREWRITING Step 1. FINDING THE STORY
Step 2. GATHERING THE INFORMATION
Step 3. DETERMING THE TYPE OF FEATURE
Step 4. CHOOSING THE SINGLE FOCUS
STEPS: WRITING Step 5. DETERMINING THE ORGANIZATION
Step 6. DRAFTING THE LEAD
Step 7. DRAFTING THE BODY
Step 8. DRAFTING THE CONCLUSION
Step 9. PREPARING THE HEADLINE
STEPS: REVISING Step 10. CHECKING FOR GOOD WRITING TECHNIQUES
Does the article reflect careful complete research? Do I attract my reader’s attention in the opening paragraph? Does the article maintain interest throughout? Did I follow a logical organization to achieve my purpose? Have I maintained unity? Have I varied sentence structure in keeping with the tone and
purpose? Are transitions sufficient to guarantee smooth reading? Does the word choice show freshness and originality? Have I eliminated wordiness? Do I use good story-writing techniques?
STEPS: PROOFREADING Step 11. CHECKING THE DETAILS
Be sure to check your copy carefully for correctness